


For the Love of Us

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 12:32:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18778360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Daine and Ydris make their way up the Red String Trail, but it isn't without its dangers. Daine belongs to HellishSam.





	For the Love of Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HellishSam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellishSam/gifts).



It had been busier than usual at Conrad’s forge lately. So busy, in fact, that Daine often came home from work late and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for a week. But his fiancé was always waiting with food cooking for dinner and could (and would) drag Daine’s lazy ass off the couch so they could eat dinner together. Even if it was on the couch in front of the TV.

Tonight was no exception, Daine finding it hard to keep his eyes open as he rested on the couch with his head on one armrest and his feet sticking off the other end. Ydris easily picked Daine’s legs up, though, to sit beneath them.

“Rough day?” Ydris asked, pulling Daine’s feet into his lap and beginning to massage them. Daine looked up at him, shifting slightly to make things easier for his fiancé.

“Just long,” said Daine, blinking slowly at him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Apparently, there’s some trail ride happening every day. Everyone wants to ride up and tie a red string at the top of the Firgrove mountain.”

“Oh?” Ydris asked, curiosity lighting his gaze. “Tell me about this trail ride.”

“So there’s this tradition,” said Daine, closing his eyes in enjoyment as Ydris’ fingers worked over the tired muscles in his feet. “You take a red string or something from a barrel at the bottom of the trail, then you ride up the trail with someone who means a lot to you, even if it’s just your horse, and you tie it at the top of the mountain. Something about showing your devotion to someone or showing your love to them, tying your lives together. Like marriage, I guess.” He didn’t want to admit how much he’d liked that idea when he’d first heard it.

“Perhaps we should do that,” said Ydris. “We are getting married next month, after all.”

“Maybe,” said Daine, shrugging. “If you want.” He did want to, but the mention of marriage made his stomach churn. June had seemed so far away when Lisa and Louisa had tied the knot in March, even when Daine had come back from his impromptu trip in April.

“We should go right now,” said Ydris, and Daine opened his eyes again to see the excitement in his fiance’s eyes. Of course the dramatic bitch would want to do this.

“Yeah, I’m dead on my feet, I’ll take a raincheck,” said Daine.

“Tomorrow, then?” Ydris asked. “Surely, you can take a day off work.”

“I can if you can,” said Daine. “If you can stand to let the poor fangirls suffer.”

“This is far more important, Daniel,” said Ydris, and there was so much sincerity in his voice that Daine couldn’t help but smile.

“Then it’s a date,” said Daine. And it felt so, so good to be able to have this kind of light banter with the man who meant so much to him.

The next day, the two men set out for the trail together, dressed in casual clothes for the ride. Daine wore his comfy, striped sweater and jeans while Ydris wore his favourite purple flannel. He’d probably get cold but maybe that was the point- Ydris was exactly the type of person who could and would leave his sweater at home to borrow his fiance’s. Or just to take advantage of Daine’s fire abilities.

But it was nice, to ride together with him like this. Daine had even brought out one of his new horses, Volcra, a black Trakehner. Ydris, of course, rode Zee, the mare looking rather heavy next to Daine’s mount.

“Have you ever been up here before?” Ydris asked Daine at the base of the mountain as he looked up at how tall it was.

“A few times,” said Daine. “But not often. Not as often as Louisa.”

“Then let us hope that we do not get lost,” said Ydris. He read the noticeboard that was posted next to a barrel that held red ribbons. “Ah, it says here to follow the poles that are marked with red pieces of ribbon. But what’s this about strange happenings on the trail?” He peered at the small print.

“Can’t be any weirder than some of the shit you’ve pulled,” said Daine.

“You said you liked the firefly lights in our bedroom,” said Ydris, feigning hurt.

“You weren’t supposed to take the song literally,” said Daine, laughing at him. Ydris pouted.

“Fine, you have a point,” said Ydris, shifting the reins in his hands as he moved Zee to face the start of the trail. “But perhaps that will have prepared us for this.”

“We’ll see,” said Daine. He just wanted a nice trail ride with his fiancé, could the weird shit maybe not happen today? But maybe that was too much to ask.

And at first, it seemed like the weird shit wouldn’t happen. They passed a family of squirrels, Kora Pelletier giving filthy looks to anyone who came by, a few patrolling Jorvik Rangers, even Raptor going on a walk with a wolf. At one point, it started raining, but Ydris conjured a simple spell to keep the water off them. Like an invisible umbrella made of nothing but air. Daine was grateful for it, smiling at his fiancé and leaning in to kiss him.

The kiss threatened to undo them. No sooner had their lips touched than a rumble shook the ground beneath them, Zee snorting while the usually-calm Volcra pinned his ears and gave a little whinny of fear.

“Oh dear,” said Ydris, looking up the hill ahead of them. Rocks were tumbling down, shining in the rain.

“Fuck,” Daine swore, turning Volcra away from the slide and trying to get out of the way.

“Daine, wait, I can-“ Ydris started, but just as Daine turned to face his fiancé, Volcra began to slide down the grass made slippery by the rain. Ydris could only watch, hand outstretched, horrified, as Daine slid closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. The ground beneath was so steep, there was no way they could get down or back up without taking some serious damage.

“Don’t move,” said Daine, his heart pounding, his chest tight with fear. Ydris wasn’t sure if he was talking to Volcra or him.

“Maybe it would be safer if you dismounted,” said Ydris. “Less of a way to fall, then.”

“I can’t move,” said Daine. His limbs were locked up with fear. It was such a long way down, and the ground still trembled from the rockslide, and sure Volcra was calm but even he was shuffling his hooves in preparation to bolt.

“If you can’t get down, why not get up?” Ydris asked. “Fly.”

“I can’t fucking move, Ydris, I’m fucking terrified!” Daine snapped at him. More rocks fell, a few even coming his way. Volcra gave another whinny and moved just a tad too much, and Daine found himself with nothing beneath Volcra’s hooves.

For an instant, Daine fell, his terrified gaze meeting Ydris’, locking with it. In his fear, he lost control of his human form, his Pandorian form surfacing in a flurry of feathers, scales, claws, sharp teeth, horns, slit-pupiled purple and yellow eyes, and his tail. But his wings fluttered ineffectually, forgetting how to move properly.

And then a hand gripped his wrist, and Daine looked up to find Ydris standing there on the tiny lip of rock at the edge of the cliff that he’d fallen from. Volcra’s hooves dug into the steep slope, though they continued to slip. Daine could feel his horse’s legs trembling, and he couldn’t blame him. Daine’s claws dug into Ydris’ wrist, and though Ydris gasped in pain, he didn’t pull away. Standing there, his hair plastered to his face, his clothes getting sodden, Ydris looked like the real hero. A far cry from the villain he’d once tried to be.

“Can you teleport Volcra away?” Daine asked, his voice shaking.

“Of course,” said Ydris. “But first, I must free you from his back. Do you trust me?”

Daine remembered when it would have been stupid to trust Ydris. When he would have hesitated. But, despite everything, he did trust his fiancé. Daine gave a tiny nod and leaned forward, steadying his wings in preparation to leap from Volcra’s back the short distance into Ydris’ arms. Ydris formed his own wings too, wings that had once been leathery but were now feathered. Black as night, a stark contrast to Daine’s galaxy wings. But it was Ydris who leaned forward, gripping both of Daine’s forearms and yanking him up and out of the saddle. Volcra slid backwards slightly from the sudden momentum but was just as quickly teleported to stand beside Zee, who looked merely annoyed at the rain.

Daine clung to Ydris as the two of them hovered in the air, wings beating to hold them aloft. He was trembling, but Ydris’ embrace was soothing. Even if he did look pale when Daine looked up at him with teary eyes.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Ydris murmured. Daine sobbed, burying his head in Ydris’ chest.

After Daine had calmed down, Ydris teleported them back to the horses. They continued up the trail carefully, on the alert for any other rockslides or weird happenings. But nothing else happened. Apparently, the rockslide was the only bad thing. And that was good- Daine didn’t know if he’d be able to handle anything worse. Or anything else, rather.

Even the rain had stopped by the time they reached the top of the mountain, the clouds clearing to reveal a beautiful view of the surrounding land.

“Now, this was worth the climb,” said Ydris, admiration in his voice as he beheld the view. Daine rode up beside him, joining Ydris as he looked out over the land.

“See?” said Daine. “Jorvik is beautiful. Even I can see that. I came here the most depressed motherfucker who ever lived but it helped me get my life back. It gave me a life. It gave me Cloud, a reason to get out of bed every day. And my friends and you and a whole new family.” His voice almost broke, and Ydris felt his heart break just a tiny bit.

“And I tried to take that away from you,” said Ydris. “I was so stupid. How can you ever forgive me?” The pain in his eyes made Daine want to cry.

“Because that’s not you anymore,” said Daine, taking Ydris’ hands in his own. “Ydris, I love you. And yeah, you did some pretty awful shit in the past, you broke my heart twice, but I still love you. Call me crazy but I do.”

“And I will spend the rest of my life making up for that,” said Ydris. “But let us now tie our strings and renew our commitment to each other.”

“Spring is all about new beginnings, huh?” said Daine, taking his hands from Ydris’ and wiping his tears away. He’d regained human form once he’d settled down, and Ydris had put his wings away for now.

“Indeed it is,” said Ydris. “Let us leave the past in the past and begin anew.” He dismounted, pulling the ribbon from his pocket and striding over to the clothesline where the ribbons would be hung. There were already some there. But Ydris paused before he tied the ribbon.

“What?” Daine asked, also pausing beside him.

“Daniel Alistair de Marco Mountainhome,” said Ydris, his gaze holding Ydris’ steadily. “Will you marry me?”

“That depends,” said Daine, smirking even as happiness thrilled through him. Pure happiness, the kind he’d never felt until he’d come to Jorvik. “Will you marry me, Ydris?”

“Well, what can I say? Mountainhome does sound like a nice last name,” said Ydris. Daine grinned at him and, after tying their ribbons a little too close together, they leaned in for a kiss.

“Was that a yes?” Daine asked, smirking at his fiancé.

“Was that a yes?” Ydris echoed. Daine chuckled and kissed him again.

“Yes, you idiot,” said Daine.

“I’m your idiot,” said Ydris. Daine couldn’t help but grin. “From now until the end of time.” And now he was crying again. But happy tears this time. After everything they’d been through, the Soul Rider stuff and other stuff… it was so good to hear that.


End file.
